Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Nemanjići & the Golden Age
Stefan Nemanja (born near present-day Podgorica) was to establish the dynasty that saw
Raška (which came to be known as Serbia) reach its greatest territorial extent. By 1190 he
had regained Raška's independence from Byzantium, also claiming present-day Kosovo
and Macedonia for his kingdom. Nemanja later retired as a monk to Mt Athos in Greece,
while his sons conquered further territory. After his death he was canonised by the Ortho-
dox church and became St Simeon.
Meanwhile, the Fourth Crusade in 1204 had hobbled the Byzantines and Venetian influ-
ence began spreading through the Adriatic. In 1219, Sava, one of Nemanja's sons, made
an agreement with a weakened Byzantium that the Serbian church should be autocephal-
ous (self-ruling), and appointed himself its first archbishop; he too was eventually sainted.
Around 1331 Dušan was proclaimed the 'young king'. He was to prove a towering fig-
ure in Serbian history, both physically (he was around 2m tall) and historically. He swiftly
confirmed he was in control by chasing the Bulgarians out of Macedonia and capturing
territory from the Byzantines. In expanding so rapidly under Dušan, Serbia became an
'empire', its territory doubled taking in Serbs, Albanians, Bulgarians and Greeks. More
than just an aggressive campaigner, Dušan also codified the Serbian law (known as the
Zakonik
) and established the Serbian Patriarchate. In linking the Orthodox church with
the Serbian royal line, Dušan also created a sense of cohesion amongst previously frac-
tious Serbian tribes.
Nonetheless, throughout this period Zeta (as Duklja was now called) remained distinct
from Serbia. Zetan nobles displayed a reluctance to submit to the Raškan rulers of Serbia,
while the Raškan rulers generally appointed their sons to oversee Zeta, further indicating
the separation of the two entities. As Raška became Serbia, so Duklja/Zeta is seen as the
antecedent of Montenegro.
Sites related to Ivan Crnojević include the ruins of his abandoned fortress, Žabljak Crnojevića, and Cetin-
je Monastery, which he founded.
